The School Ethics Commission is asking you to share with
your school board members and trustees the attached resolution, which
it adopted at its meeting on February 25, 2003. The resolution clarifies
how school boards and charter schools must invoke the "Doctrine of
Necessity" when a quorum of the board has conflicts of interest that
prevent the board from acting on a matter required to be voted upon, such
as a collective bargaining agreement. This resolution came about because
the Commission anticipates that more school boards will face this situation
as a result of Public Advisory Opinion A13-02, which provides that board
members who were endorsed by the political action committee of the local
education association would violate the Act if they participated in negotiations
and voted on the contract within the same year as the endorsement. A copy
is on the Commissions web page.

This resolution requires that boards that must invoke
the Doctrine of Necessity adopt a resolution at a public meeting stating
the nature of the conflicts of interest, post the resolution for 30 days
and provide the Commission with a copy.

The Commissions resolution does not have to be
read at a public meeting. Only boards that are invoking the Doctrine of
Necessity must adopt a resolution and that resolution is the one that
must be read at a public meeting.